Rand Paul 2016 has $1.7M in bank

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul raised over a million dollars for his Senate campaign fund in the last quarter of 2013, leaving him with $1.7 million in a federal account that could be transferred over for a presidential run.

A senior Paul adviser told POLITICO that Paul took in just “over a million” for Rand Paul 2016 – a campaign account named for the year Paul will have to defend his Senate seat, but that carries a double meaning thanks to the senator’s apparent White House ambitions.

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In addition to the $1.7 million Paul has in the 2016 account, his political action committee, RAND PAC, also has $500,000 on hand.

The former Bowling Green ophthalmologist appears to be picking up the pace in his fundraising: POLITICO reported last year that Paul took in about $1 million across his political groups, including both the campaign and the PAC, in the third quarter of 2013. The million-dollar haul this time comes just from the campaign.

Paul has made a priority of introducing himself to donors around the country as the earliest stages of the 2016 race begin to unfold; he recently made a fundraising trip to Atlanta and is scheduled to make a swing through Texas next month.

While the libertarian-leaning Republican has a substantial grassroots following, it remains to be seen if he can attract the level of high-dollar donor support that presidential campaigns usually require.

Senators and other federal officials who run for president can move money directly from their reelection accounts into presidential campaign accounts; governors do not have the same luxury.